Is That Your Real Hair Color?
by Mesmeric.Midnight
Summary: They both worked as top agents in the spy network. Naturally, they knew each other. (features FemAlex)
1. Chapter 1

Tony Stark stepped out of the elevator onto the main level of the tower. Having all the Avengers living under one roof, sounded like a terrible idea. However, after six months of living together with an overgrown lightning rod, a capsicle, two assassins that could probably (and might eventually) kill him with a tissue, he had to admit; they were growing on him. And having another mind to bounce ideas more complex than, "how does the remote work?" was a great perk. Still, he wasn't completely prepared for some of the surprises that came to living with more than an A.I. and a very tidy Pepper Pots.

Thor would appear out of thin air and usually land break whatever he landed on. Steve still had issues with technology, and sometimes Tony would find him guiltily staring at a broken remote. Bruce rarely spoke sometimes, and had a habit of giving a knowing look to Tony that was usually seen on Pepper's face. Clint would explore the ceiling vents and sometimes jump down and surprise unsuspecting people (namely Tony). Then, there was Natasha. He never quite knew what the silent spider was thinking. Out of all the people in the tower, she was the one the most closed off. Tony was absolutely positive he could count on her to save his life and she could be pleasant when he wasn't "being an ass." Still, there were moments when he wondered what life was like for the famed Black Widow when she was still just a small spiderling.

-xxx-

Tuesday started as an unremarkable day. Steve woke up early and made a pot of coffee, before sitting down to read the paper. Thor joined him shortly at the table with his Pop-Tart and tried to read one of the books Pepper had given him on Earth culture. The smell of coffee always drew Tony up from his lab; today was no exception. He came up the same time as a bleary-eyed Bruce grabbed a mug as well. Clint and Natasha came up from the gym, having already completed their morning exercise routine.

"Anything happening today in the world?" asked Clint breaking four eggs into a frying pan.

"You mean besides my company's stocks going up 10%?" asked Tony as if that was all anyone needed to know.

"The city is still recovering, and there are some minor concerns being raised about super humans. It looks like Congress will need to have a hearing soon," replied Bruce.

"I still do not understand why you need so many people to decide how your President must act," Thor admonished.

"It's so all people can have a say," said Steve.

Tony was about to give a quick reply, when an unfamiliar sound rang in throughout the room.

Natasha eyes widened as she set the plates down, and vaulted over the couch to reach her phone.

Giving Clint a look, after reading the caller ID, she ran out of the room.

"Is she okay?" asked the ever concerned Dr. Banner.

All eyes locked onto Clint as he shrugged and continued making breakfast.

"She's fine. It was probably just one of her contacts…"

-xxx-

Twenty minutes later, loud shouting could be heard coming up the elevator.

"Jarvis, is that Pepper?" asked Tony to his all-knowing AI.

"No sir, it is Miss Romanov, and she has a guest."

The men looked at each other before standing and getting into more comfortable stances to face whatever was coming up the elevator.

The doors whooshed open and out stepped a dark haired brunette yelling loudly in Russian at Natasha. The two women now stood in the middle of the room, arguing about…something.

The brunette threw her arms up making her curls bounce and spun on her heels to face four very confused gentlemen.

"Excuse me," she said in accented English, "where is your toilet?"

Tony pointed to the door around the corner.

"Thank you," the woman grabbed her bag and said something very firmly to Natasha before walking away.

Fuming, Natasha let out a heavy breath and moved to finisher her cup of coffee.

"So, you know her?" asked Tony breaking the silence that had overcome the rest of them.

"Yes. We worked together," said Natasha. "Sorry, Clint I don't think I've ever told you about her."

"Wait, wait, wait!" exclaimed Tony, "she's from before Clint? Before SHIELD?"

Clint looked pensively at the plate of eggs he was holding before looking at Natasha, "Are you sure I don't know her?"

Natasha mouth curved into a small smile before she said, "You probably do know her. There are very few people that do not."

Bruce shot confused glances at an equally perplexed Steve and Thor while Tony looked puzzled that there was someone he didn't know.

They heard a door open, and around the corner came the young woman…with short blonde hair?

"Hello!" she said brightly before any of them could speak, "My name is Alex, Alex Rider."


	2. Chapter 2

Tony wasn't entirely sure what had happened in the last few seconds. After quickly establishing that the brunette, now blonde woman was named Alex, Clint began laughing and made his way over to shake her hand. The Cap and the rest of the crew slowly walked over to meet Natasha's mysterious friend as well. Standing off to the side, Tony quickly took inventory of the woman in front of him.

Her long brown hair was now a short strawberry blonde. Her skin was fair, and if he was mistaken, not as tan as when she had entered the Tower. She looked very athletic, but wasn't as tall as Natasha. Jarvis was already running a search on the mysterious woman that looked far too young to be associating with the deadly Widow.

"Mr. Stark?" a voice suddenly said next to his shoulder.

Tony's head whipped up from reading the results of Jarvis's search to meet a pair of intense chocolate colored eyes.

"If you wanted to know that much about me, all you had to do was ask," smiled Alex.

"It's hard finding information on someone that seems to suffer from dissociative identity disorder," quipped Tony.

"Ah, that's not fair. I'd rather think of myself as an actress," replied Alex still smiling.

"Well, not all actresses can wield Sig P228."

"Shame, isn't it?"

Captain America chose that time to interrupt. "I'm sorry ma'am. Are you in the army?"

Alex flashed a bright smile showing her perfect row of teeth and said, "Not quite, but I've worked with a few of them. I must say Captain, your strategic techniques and exploits some of my favorite things to study."

Turning to address the rest of the members of the team, Alex decided it was probably time to formally explain herself.

"I apologize for the intrusion, but I'm a friend of Natasha's. She's returning a favor and letting me crash here for a while."

Natasha snorted and said, "_Friend_ is stretching it."

"Come now, darling," said Alex, "I only tried to kill you once. You tried at least three times to kill me."

Bruce took a wary look at the young woman in front of him and said, "So, you're an assassin as well?"

"Only when necessary, Dr. Banner. I work in intelligence."

"I assume it's normal for you to change your appearance then?" asked Tony. "I've found several pictures of you looking nothing like you do now." He looked closer at his screen. "Are you Asian in this photo? Hmm, you look remarkably well for a dead person. Do you use as much conditioner as Hammer Head here?"

Alex shot a look to Natasha and she simply nodded.

"My hair is still 10 times more fabulous than yours and I can pull off being dead better than the Captain," Alex replied flipping her hair.

"How long will you be in New York?" asked Natasha.

A light beeping noise drew Alex's attention to her watch.

"Long enough to tell you Fury will need you again soon."

Alex stopped her beeping watch and grabbed her duffle bag from off the floor and walked to back to the toilet leaving a very confused team behind her.

When she emerged again, her hair was a shoulder length platinum blonde and she had once again become a whole other woman.

"It's been wonderful chatting with you gentleman. Natasha, I apologize but I will get back to you about Istanbul."

She headed towards the elevator and just before it closed, held the door open and said in a perfect Australian accent, "Thanks for the phone, Stark! Next time, read the entire brief before you decided to jump in the deep end."

Tony glanced down and did see that his phone was no longer in his pocket.

The doors to the elevator closed, and after a beat of silence, Bruce asked, "So, what is her real hair color?"


End file.
